Actors Company of Boston and??The Wickford Art Association present a benefit performance of??A Walk in the Woods??By Lee Blessing
The Wickford Art Association is pleased to present a one-night-only benefit performance of an Actors Company of Boston production of??A Walk in the Woods??by Lee Blessing, a bracing and at times humorous drama involving two arms negotiators ??? one a Russian, the other an American ??? in the heightened years of the Cold War during the Reagan presidency. Blessing???s drama is a play for our time as we continue to confront the increasing dangers and instability created by the proliferation of nuclear arms.
The play will be performed in the Association???s Art Gallery, located at 36 Beach Street in North Kingstown, on Saturday evening, September 29, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased on our website or reserved by calling 401-294-6840. Tickets can also be purchased at the Art Gallery during regular business hours. Available tickets will be sold at the door on the evening of the performance. Seating is limited; early ticket purchases or reservations are encouraged.
A Walk in the Woods??was a long-running Broadway success that was nominated for both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The production features Ashley Shea as the American negotiator, Joan Honeyman, and Jack Shea as the Russian diplomat, Andrey Botvinnik. The Sheas are long-time members of Actors??? Equity Association, the national union of professional stage actors and stage managers. The play is directed by Jack Shea, with original music composed and performed by Adam McLean.
Originally staged on Broadway in 1988, Blessing’s play continues to resonate today. A seasoned Russian arms negotiator and his less experienced American counterpart take a walk in the woods near Geneva after meeting for many fruitless hours over the bargaining table. They continue their informal meetings in the woods through the course of a year as the seasons change, and through their deepening conversations we become aware of their slowly developing friendship and the American???s increasing understanding of the true nature of arms negotiations. The American comes to learn that ???it is not always pleasant to discover what you are meant for.???
The publisher Dramatist Play Service says that??Woods??is ???[a]n important, brilliantly executed and strikingly original play which brings deep perception and unexpected humor to its probing examination of the superpower negotiations on nuclear disarmament.??? In their reviews of the original production, Drama-Logue wrote, “It is a marvelous piece of theatre as well as a great treatise on the nature of mankind, and should take its place as a classic of dramatic literature,?????and Time Magazine called the play ???. . . a work of passion and power with the ring of political truth. It is not only the best of the few dramas to reach Broadway this season, it is also the funniest comedy.”
The Wickford Art Association is producing this event to benefit its many cultural and educational programs. The play is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
About:
The Wickford Art Association is a non-profit organization with nearly 450 members from Rhode Island and New England. The association hosts art shows and classes in its gallery at 36 Beach Street in North Kingstown, and has produced the Wickford Art Festival every July since 1962. Wickford Art Association is dedicated to educating, encouraging and inspiring artists and art lovers throughout the community.
Wickford Art Association hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 – 3:00 PM and Sunday noon to 3:00 PM. For more information, please call (401) 294-6840 or visit??www.wickfordart.org